


And Damn The Rest

by nana_banana



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Character Study, First Impressions, M/M, No Dialogue, One Shot, POV Stiles Stilinski, POV Third Person Limited, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24244906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nana_banana/pseuds/nana_banana
Summary: After years of murder and supernatural mayhem, Stiles did not think he understood Derek Hale any better than the first time he saw him in the woods while looking for Scott's inhaler.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	And Damn The Rest

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly spent more time thinking up a title and trying to find tags than writing this. This took legit no time & I wanna get back to my other works, so I'm gonna just leave this here.

After years of murder and supernatural mayhem, Stiles did not think he understood Derek Hale any better than the first time he saw him in the woods while looking for Scott's inhaler. Within the first five seconds, Stiles had compiled everything he had needed to know, and it was the exact same information he had now. Because Derek Hale was a wall of a person, if walls could be people. Derek did not _have_ walls, he _was_ a wall. It was like it was all he knew how to be.

The first time Stiles saw Derek Hale, Stiles had dragged his eyes across the forest floor and up to see a man barely put together. He had clothes, shoes, and probably a wallet. Stiles did not know about that last one. He had not seen it. But he could guess as much. Everyone had a wallet. But, he digressed, Derek had had all his parts, like a regular human being.

Only, across that clearing, Stiles had not seen a complete picture. Maybe within the first two seconds, he had seen the whole thing. Someone complete, with all their parts where they were supposed to go. But that third, fourth, and fifth second, that image rearranged itself into something else entirely.

All he saw were pieces assembled to look like a person, attempting completeness. He saw weariness in those green eyes, eyebrows hanging heavy above them like he carried the weight of the world on his brow. His hair that had probably once been styled, resembled naught but worried hands through stiff strands. And his clothes, all nice and complete, were wrinkled and pulled on like baggage on the psyche. It was like they existed solely to cover his skin, like armor hiding weakness.

His cheeks were hollow like he had lately felt unwell, and there was a haunted droop to his body as if he had seen too much. He stood tense. Not ready to fight. Because there had been no fight in Derek Hale and there never would be again. But rather, he stood like he was ready to defend. Like he had given all the inches he could, and there was nothing else at his back except a long fall and a hard end.

Later, Stiles would understand all these things. He would learn where the shatterings of Derek's being had come from, and why he carried them like he did. He would understand that Derek had just buried his sister, and only the strands of his frayed soul had been holding him together. He would know that Derek had been looking for an end, only to find a brand new pup in need of an anchor lest he start tearing the populace apart with his shiny new claws.

But that day, Stiles understood nothing. He saw Derek Hale, posturing like a building made of drywall, and ignored everything he saw. He turned to Scott, excited about Derek's return to town where nothing exciting ever happened.

Later, Stiles would realize he had seen everything he needed to know about Derek Hale. That he was all front and pretense with no substance. That he was just a man, tired and worn from an arduous life. That he was softhearted and vulnerable, and he hid it with his fangs, claws, and glowing eyes.

And Stiles would discover, as Derek lay dying in the middle of nowhere, Mexico, telling him to go with desperation in his eyes, that he wanted to rip off Derek's broken armor. That he wanted nothing more than to use his body to cover Derek's tattered heart, bruised and bleeding and still capable of caring, despite how much he tried not to. Stiles would finally comprehend, as he stopped and looked back to Derek's frightened gaze, that at Derek's side was where he wanted to stay.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: [@floreswrites](https://floreswrites.tumblr.com/)  
> twitter: [@nanadanonini](https://twitter.com/nanadanonini)


End file.
